Population Structure and Diversity of East African taro [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott]

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Abstract

Taro [Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott] belongs to the family Araceae. Taro is mainly
produced in Africa by small holder farmers and plays an important role in the
livelihood of millions of poor people in less developed countries. There is need to
develop breeding programmes that target development of resistant and improved taro
varieties with high yield, yield stability across broad agro-ecological sites, resistance
to TLB and good eating quality. The genetic diversity of East African taro has not
been determined; consequently there is no breeding programme for this vital root
crop. Tills work establishes the genetic diversity of taro in East Africa using DNA
microsatellite markers. Plant material consisted of 98 taro cultivars obtained from
East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda). DNA was extracted using the
Cetyltrimethyl Ammonium Bromide method and six micro satellite primers previously
shown to reveal high level of polymorphism in Polynesian taro were used to analyze 5
populations of Taro from three different regions of East Africa. Principal component
analysis of SSR data indicated variation but did not show any geographical structure.
Population diversity estimates was high for accessions sourced from Lake Victoria
basin. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed most variation among
individuals within population. Cluster analysis indicates that relatedness is not based
on geographical proximity alone. It is envisaged that the result of this study will assist
in establishing a regional collection that will be conserved and ensure a broad genetic
base for available varieties and enable development of improved varieties through
breeding programmes, .